The High Church of Messiah-as-Emperox
The High Church of Messiah-as-Emperox is the official religion of The Empire. Having emerged as an amalgamation of the old Earthly religions (now called Primal Religions), the High Church is interwoven with the nobility and embedded deeply as the primary faith of Imperial civilization. It controls, manages, and facilitates every aspect of spiritual life for most of Acheron Rho. Doctrine The High Church of Messiah-as-Emperox believes that the Emperox is a recurring reincarnation or eternal visitation of heaven's will in reality. The central directive of the Church is to maintain the sanctity of the Imperial throne and assist the Emperox in guiding their subjects on the path of the Ten Holy Virtues. The Church’s established positions include anti-alien, anti-synthetic, and pro-nobility principles. They follow the words recorded in a collation of writing referred to as The Sacred Texts. The Ten Holy Virtues # Faith - ''“Faith above all. We must trust God and their chosen Emperox to guide us.” Faith is exemplified by daily prayer, regular attendance of Church ceremonies, dutiful tithing, and pilgrimage to holy sites. # '''Propriety - '"We must be obedient to tradition, ceremony, courtesy and station." ''Propriety is exemplified by respectful loyalty to righteous authority and cultural norms, along with unfailing intolerance for all heretics and heathens. Custom, dress, and technology all must adhere to Propriety. # '''Justice - '"We must reward those who behave rightly and punish those who do not." ''Justice is exemplified by its unflinching enforcement, and we must correct our own failings before looking to those of others. # '''Fortitude - '"We must patiently endure the challenges laid upon us and follow the rightful path despite them." ''Fortitude is exemplified by steadfast courage and endurance in the face of adversity, particularly in avoiding all cringing or complaint when upon holy ground or fulfilling holy duties. # '''Wisdom - '"We must strive to see the world in its truth and shape it according to God’s will." ''Wisdom is exemplified by perceived the flawed world as it is, but never losing sight of what it should be. Daily reflection upon the sacred texts and their application to our lives is essential to Wisdom. # '''Temperance - '"We must show prudent moderation and diligent control over our desires." ''Temperance is exemplified by self-restraint in all facets, particularly regular fasting and avoidance of intoxicants. # '''Diligence - '"We must be ever persistent and expend all effort and attention in keeping ourselves and others to the true path." ''Diligence is exemplified by constant, tireless vigilance against temptation and treachery in all aspects of life. # '''Charity - '"We must show compassion to those worthy of God’s mercy." ''Charity is exemplified by philanthropic acts and outreach to faithful sufferers. # '''Integrity - '"We must honor our oaths and uphold the truth." ''Integrity is exemplified by unfailing honesty and the exposure of deviants, as well as regular confession of our failings. # '''Hope - '"We must never despair, no matter how dark the hour, as God shines their light upon us." ''Hope is exemplified by the conquest of despair, symbolized most prominently by the restriction of mourning to a designated period, as well as the teaching of the Virtues to the ignorant. The Imperial Succession Beyond it's spiritual duties, the High Church will play a critical role in this current time of trouble. If a new Emperox is not chosen by the end of this year, the High Exarch shall become Steward and Regent of The Empire, ruling by the grace of God and their Virtues. While the Church shall strive to ensure a stable succession, they must also ensure that any successor is truly worthy of the throne. The Sacred Texts ''Full Article: The Sacred Texts This is the collated writings of many ancient religious books, writings of the Emperox and writings of the Exarchs. It is kept in the latin-rooted language of the clergy, with the only freely available exerpts to read for serfs being carefully selected by the clergy to encourage social conformity. Nobles may recieve an education into the language of the clergy, however it is usually only the most faithful who learn more than a smattering of phrases or words. Organisation Leadership While the imperial religion is lead by the reigning Emperox, the High Church itself is lead by the High Exarch who also has the priviledge and duty of advising the Emperox from the throne of Imperial Prime. They are also responsible for calling and conducting the Election of Imperial Succession during Interregnum. After which should no candidate for the throne have succeeded they have the responsibility of becoming Imperial Regent. The current High Exarch has been in office since 3179 after the suicide of High Exarch Lysander Ibn Sa'id. The High Exarch is elected for life by the Council of Exarchs from among the ordained clergy upon the death, resignation or dismissal by the Emperox of the previous High Exarch.The council is the church's governing body and is made up of ten members, who hold the eponymous title of Exarch. Like the High Exarch, council members serve for life, unless they chose to resign or are dismissed from the position. When a position on the council becomes vacant the remaining members will elect a replacement and by law the council cannot consider any other matters until it has done so and there are ten exarchs again. Structure Below the level of the Council the Clergy are divided between the four spheres of the High Church, sometimes known alternately as the four pillars. These are the Pastoria, the Ministry, the Canonate and the Inquisition. The Pastoria makes up the bulk of the clergy through priests and preachers as it is responsible for the spiritual guidance and education of the billions of the Imperium's common citizens. The Abbots of the Ministry perform similar duties though their sphere attends to the members of the noble houses instead. The Canonate does not tend to the needs of laity but to the needs of the church itself, operating it's internal bureaucracy and performing scholarly work while the Inquisition maintains oversight of the rest of clergy. Ensuring that they adhere to proper church doctrine and practice and investigating any misconduct. Hierarchy Branches In addition to the four spheres, members of the Church divide themselves into one of the ten branches of faith, gatherings of clergy who share schools of thought and policy priorities. It is typical for each Exarch of the council to represent one of these branches. # [[High Order|'High Order']]' - '''Bureaucracy and central administration of the High Church. # [[Guardians|'Guardians']]' - Protectors of humanity and the faith. # [[Crusaders|'''Crusaders]]' - '''Military branch and fleet. # [[Orthodoxy|'Orthodoxy']]' - Followers of the Scripture as written. # [[Masoodites|'''Masoodites]]' - '''Believe that the first High Exarch is the true Prophet. # [[Conservatives|'Conservatives']]' - Followers of old dogma with ever new interpretations. # [[Reformists|'''Reformists]]' - '''Take a practical view on Doctrine and Faith. # [[Karmists|'Karmists']]' - Believe in a cycle of rebirth which ends in your soul merging with the Emperox's. # [[Observers|'''Observers]]' - '''Watchers and guides who try to interfere as little as possible. # [[Purists|'Purists']]' - Concerned with the purity of humanity in the face of aliens, synths and other threats. Cults Very rarely a single or small group of priests will try to take personal power in a location. These are isolated and do not have a large following, teaching things that the church condemns. Nox Fide - A cult of the Night on Teuthem Naming Scheme The general naming scheme of the High Church follows this pattern: '''(Title)(Branch)(potential additional title or ceremonial name) Nobles who join the High Church lose their noble titles after they completed their studies. While they are still Acolytes they retain their noble title. The Ninth Virtue Charitable Trust (NVCT) As part of ongoing charitable activity, The High Church recently launched The Ninth Virtue Charitable Trust, designed to fund and foster collaborative work across the sector. This sits adjacent to the formal structure of the Church, often drawing in expertise from each of the different branches. This infographic formally launched the Trust to the sector. Ceremonies Birth Marriage Adoption For the Nobility, adoption is a very common aspect of family life. There are several prominent types: # Of an infant - This is especially common among members of House Aquila, though many houses practice this form of adoption. If both parents of a noble child die, the relatives will decide who the child or children live with. They are then formally adopted into the household of their new parents, and their birth-parents assets are kept in trust until the age of majority, when they re-establish their birth-parents house. # Of an infant into another house - This is fairly common for older nobility. If they didn't have children, or wish to have another later in life, the most common way to do that is to adopt. Some choose to adopt outside of their house for political and financial gain. In this scenario, the parents of the child must agree, and there is usually a transfer of funds or other assets as compensation. Sadly, in many houses, the child is prohibited from seeing their birth parents until the age of majority. # Adult adoption - This is very common if a couple finds themselves unable to have their own children, especially if they have large holdings and assets. They adopt a nearly-adult member of a lower noble family, either in their house or in another noble house, in order to continue their lineage. It is also common to find nobles adopting prodigies or other promising youths from lesser nobility, to further enhance their families prestige, wealth, or ability. In this way it becomes an interesting form of patronage. Death For main article, see 'Imperial Funeral Traditions'' In the Empire the responsibility of performing funeral Rites falls upon House Lyra, as blessed and approved by the High Church. Afterlife The Empire believes that when your Soul passes to the After, it is judged by the Divine according to the Ten Virtues. If you lived a good and virtuous life, you may find yourself living eternally in happiness. Some call this Heaven, Nirvana, Elysium, and other names, all meaning a good place. If your soul did not live a virtuous life, you may be born again. Reincarnated into a new Human life. 'Exigo ' The ceremony performed on anybody who loses their nobility, either voluntarily or involuntarily. '''Excommunication A House, major or minor, may request that a member be excommunicated. This usually happens for a crime so heinous that house punishments don’t fit, so they have to have them excommunicated before executing them. For non-nobles, the decision to excommunicate is usually handled at a local level, either by an Exarch or by an Emissary in the case the request comes from a particular house. For particularly heinous crimes, crimes committed by a group, or crimes committed by a noble, the church’s investigative wing, the Inquisitors, forwards the results of an investigation to the Council of Ten for a vote. If the majority agrees, the Voice makes a declaration that the individual or group is excommunicated, and writes a decree listing their crimes against the virtues. The decree is ceremonially nailed to the front doors of the Church on Andophael, and a copy is forwarded to The PRISM Network for dissemination. An Excommunicate is barred from all church services. They cannot enter into a contract with any Imperial citizen, and any current contracts are immediately nullified. Their property or holdings may be seized by their former House. In the case of the leader of a House, the property is immediately transferred to their heir. If there is no heir, the property and liquid assets are transferred to a special Church Escrow account for “safekeeping” until an heir is “found”. The Excommunicate may be killed for any reason. They cannot pay for goods and services, as legally they are not the owners of any credits they possess, so merchants are encouraged to “confiscate” their currency and give them nothing in return. They may not live on any Imperial planet, nor any planet with an Imperial presence. Additional Information Ceremonies Holidays *'The long Vigil (aka Scream-day)' The Scream is the most significant event the Sector has experienced. The Church holds that the reason for The Scream, regardless of who actually caused it, was lack of faith by mankind. For this reason, the ten days following the Vernal Equinox on Imperial Prime are days of Vigil. Each day is devoted to one of the virtues. People observe their Vigil in whatever way they chose, but it is mostly a solemn occasion. In the past few decades an 11th day has been incorporated into the Holiday. On the last day, people dress up as pre-Scream humans or Aliens and celebrate the end of The Scream and the continuation of hope. These recent changes are mostly due to A.C.R.E.’s efforts to commercialize this sacred holiday. *'Mercurial Day' It was the day after The Scream. The High Exarch was walking around the High Temple on Imperial Prime dreading to face the crowds that were gathering outside. As he was walking the halls he heard a voice singing out loud. What he found was an Acolyte sitting somberly in an alcove next to a wooden box, playing a so called “vinyl” record, one of the only pieces of technology to survive The Scream. The High Exarch sat down with the acolyte and quietly listened through the whole record. After it was done the High Exarch looked at the Acolyte and said: “From now on, you will be my Grand Voice” and glancing down at the wooden box he added “the Second person to ever hold that title”. For this very reason, Mercurial day is celebrated on the first day of a new year, it is the heralding in of a new year and a new beginning. *'The Pilgrimage '''Each year in the warmest months of Andophael, Millions of pilgrims from across the sector arrive on Andophael in order to complete the Pilgrimage. This includes completing Ten trials, each corresponding to a virtue. The Holy Planet Andophael ''For main article, see [[Andophael|'Andophael']] Andophael is the Holy Planet of the High Church and seat of the Council of Exarchs. It is a frozen world and pilgrimage site for any followers of the imperial faith. Decrees *Alien Decree - "The High Exarchs Divine Proclamation on the Sanctity of the Human Soul" *Synth Decree - "The Council of Exarchs Divine Proclamation on the Mocking of Human Divinity via Synthetic Organisms" The Symbol of the Church The traditional symbol of the High Church is a decagram surrounding an image of a throne, representing the Ten Virtues and the Emperox. However, in consultation with outside “branding” experts, the Church has adopted a new sigil to demonstrate its renewed and enduring commitment to bring the people of Acheron Rho reassurance in these uncertain times. The new sigil uses a tau cross in the shape of a human created from a womb, a celebration of the birth cycle. This emphasis on renewal and new beginning shows our trust and expectation in the ascendancy of a new Emperox. As the nine months of gestation align with the Ten Holy Virtues - birth itself being the tenth virtue of Hope - so too does the tau cross (humanity) and its intersection with the central perfect circle (God) consist of ten points. The background pattern symbolizes the Church’s authority and dedication, with four quadrants and four axes combining with the cross and circle to also reach the holy 10. The Music of the Church The High Church features many holy songs and hymns. The most holy of which is played before each service. Statements from the High Church For main article, see [http://highchurch.space/Decrees '''Statements from the High Church']'' Press Releases from The High Church Berkmann III: The Beginning of Something Beautiful Spirit of Unity Binds the Empire on Andophael [https://drive.google.com/open?id=1BikBmTpZtdv-ur0we7sep_S15u8ZJ5X- A Response to the 12th Recorded CHR Debate] [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Dhd-PFLPIW3v3I1yXJ5-TejPvbv9C6uy/view?usp=sharing High Church Remembers DCS Fallen on Teuthem] High Church cover DCS Costs through New Charitable Trust High Church turns to Eridani Expertise following previous Corruption Scandal External Links *Official High Church Website *Grand Voice's Twitter Category:Factions Category:Churches Category:The High Church of Messiah-as-Emperox